Can't Teach an Old Dog New Tricks
by myrosedream
Summary: It starts out with one assassin in the Prince's bedchambers. Now, something has gone horribly wrong. Merlin and Arthur seem to be aging at a fast rate. Will Merlin be able to figure what is happening before someone recognizes him as Dragoon the Great? Some fluff and bonding. Adventure and action in the later chapters. Canon relationships. :)
1. Chapter 1

**Hello all. This is my first fanfiction to ever post. I apologize for any trouble in flow/plot/grammar/ ext... If anyone reads this, please be nice with the reviews. I hope you will hold your judgments till, like, the third chapter because that's where the action begins (I think). This will probably be mostly fluff and adventure and all canon. Set a** **fter Season 3 episode 11,** ** _The sorcerers shadow_** **with Gilli.**

 **Note: Edited May 6th, 2019 (Finally)**

 _Can't Teach an Old Dog New Tricks_

 ** _In a land of myth and a time of magic, the destiny of a great Kingdom rests on the shoulders of a young boy. His name…. Merlin._**

 _Chapter 1_

It was stressful being the secret protector to the crown prince of Camelot. The title came with many hardships and requirements. The duties included (but were certainly not limited to) long hours of sneaking through corridors, setting up protection spells, stopping evil sorcerers, and all the while striving to remain undetected by anyone. Merlin had learned this the hard way from the many years he had been in the service of Prince Arthur. It was a constant balancing act of being Arthur's trustworthy servant when he was looking and secret protector anytime he wasn't. If any situation could summarize the difficulties of his job, Merlin supposed right now was a perfect example of his misfortune.

"Come on! Just fit in there already," Merlin stage whispered as he dragged the unconscious form of an assassin out to the servant's passage that connected to the prince's room. The assassin was proving to be just as troublesome asleep as he was awake. When Merlin had first discovered the assassin, he had just walked into the royal chambers, carrying a freshly washed load of laundry in his arms. Out of breath and distracted from mentally complaining about how many stairs he had to climb, he did not sense the intruder lurking. Merlin leaped in surprise as the door slammed shut behind him. The assassin raised his blade, ready to bring it down on whom he thought was the prince. Mid-swing, he paused in surprise at the lanky raven headed man in his place. Readjusting his swing, apparently not caring that Merlin was not his target, the assassin raised his sword again and chopped down at the defenseless man. Merlin dodged the sword strike, dropping all the laundry on to the floor and diving under the dinner table. The sword came down again and embedded itself into the table, centimeters away from Merlin's ear. With a quick flash of Merlin's eyes, the sword stuck in the wood. Pulling with all his strength, the assassin futilely attempted to get it out of the table. With this distraction, Merlin lunged for the door, hoping to call put for a guard.

The assassin saw him and gave up on the attempt to free the sword. Instead, he lunged after Merlin and grabbed at the servant's shirt. Merlin twisted just out of reach. A punch sailed over Merlin's head as he was forced to drop to the ground to avoid a painful encounter with the fist. Rolling up onto his stomach, he pushed himself up, getting ready to make another attempt for the door. The assassin was faster and dropped into a twirling squat, kicking Merlin's legs out from underneath him. With an "oof" Merlin tumbled back to the ground, smacking his leg onto the edge of one of Arthur's closets. He winced at the impact, but ignored the pain pulsing from his left shin. Merlin rolled onto his back and just in time to see the assassin pulled out a small knife from his belt. Seeing no other alternative as the man lunged with a manic glint in his eye, he yelled,

"Wáce ierlic!" The assassin was thrown back and smashed against the stone wall.

"Great," Merlin murmured. Now he had an unconscious body to dispose of. The warlock sat up and examined his shin, making sure nothing was seriously damaged. A large bruise was starting to form but nothing he had to worry about. Dropping his pant leg back down, he pushed himself off the ground and walked over to the assassin, examining him from a short distance. The man's cloth wrap mask covered most of his facial features. The small section of his face visible showed the small crinkles beginning to form around his eyes, interrupted only by a scar running from the tip of his left eyebrow off into the depth of his mask. Smaller scars ran down his bare muscular arms, left over from previous battles. All in all, yet another typical run of the mill assassin.

This was how Merlin found himself pulling the assassin bulky form out of the Prince's chambers. Even in his sleep, he was causing trouble. The little the assassin wore for armor was just bulky enough to get stuck in the door frame of the servant's hallway. Merlin gave up trying to drag him out by the armpits. Instead, he turned the killer to a more diagonal angle and awkwardly made his way into the servant's corridor, half carrying, half dragging his burden.

Just making it over the threshold of the doorway, Merlin tripped over his own feet and fell down underneath the behemoth of a man. They both crashed to the floor. Merlin was debating staying in the position and admitting defeat until the pounding of feet began to echo from the main hallway, just outside of the main door to the chamber. Merlin cursed his luck, Arthur had a nasty habit of turning up at the worst times.

Merlin wormed his way out from under the man and quickly grabbed his feet, which was the only body part still in the bedroom, and propped them up on the wall of the servant's corridors. Just enough so that he could close the bedroom door. With a panicky quick golden glow of the eyes, the clean clothes strewn across the floor flew up into Merlin's arms and folded themselves nicely. Not a second later, Arthur came barreling into his room obviously upset at something.

"Me _r_ lin! There you are! I've been looking for you!" He said as soon as he spotted his manservant in the corner.

"What's wrong sire?" Merlin cheekily replied, drowning the word sire in as much sarcasm as he could muster. Arthur opened his mouth to reply when his eyes landed on the large sword indent across his table. Merlin silently cursed his Arthur's observational skills. He had removed the sword when he dragged the assassin out of the chamber but forgot about the new battle scar the table had acquired.

"What did you do to my table!" The prince, horrified, ran his hand down the new divot in the table.

"Oh, erm, I had sharpened your sword and when I went to put it away, I tripped. It got stuck there." Merlin saying the first lie that came to him.

"You mean to tell me, that the one time you actually sharpen my blade, it then gets shoved into my table!" Arthur sighed and turned back to Merlin. "I suppose my blade is back to being as dull as you are."

"Look on the bright side, I'm sure it can't possibly get as dull as you, sire." Merlin grinned back at Arthur while putting away the clothes into the closet, keenly aware of an unconscious assassin outside the prince's chambers. Arthur lunged for a goblet in the middle of the table, still left over from breakfast. He lobbed it at Merlin who expertly dodged the projectile and ran for cover out the door of the servants' chamber. He expertly opened the door of the escape passage just enough to fit through, but not enough for Arthur to see into the corridor.

"Wait Merlin," Arthur called. The servant stuck his head back into the room. "I need you up early tomorrow, a delegation from the town of Hathrow are coming for the day to discuss their taxes. They have been complaining about over taxation for years and my father has finally agreed to meet with a few of them to settle the dispute. Seeing as I will inherit this kingdom one day, the King has asked for my presence at the meeting. So, on this rare occasion, I would like to be woken up on time. Assuming, of course, that you are capable; I would like you here when you are meant to be."

"Aren't I always?" Merlin asked as he ducked back out into the corridor.

"No, you most certainly are not!" He heard Arthur call as the door shut behind him.

Arthur shook his head in fond annoyance and began his journey back out to the training fields. For this week, his father had also placed him in charge of babysitting the young knight wannabes. For Arthur, it was a boring and menial task, watching the young men try to wield a sword with the expertise of a professional. Personally, he would have much rather been training with the more experienced knights. No coddling was needed as they sparred. His father, however, had a different plan for the prince and after an hour of argument, the King lost his temper and demanded his son follow his orders. Arthur glumly continued on his long trek to the courtyard. Meanwhile, Merlin stood confused in the empty corridor just outside the prince's room, staring at the space where the assassin's body used to be.

* * *

"It tastes awful Merlin!" Arthur complained at dinner that evening, spitting out whatever he had in his mouth. Merlin had spent all day searching for the escaped assassin but found no trace of him. He had been keeping a close watch on Arthur for the rest of the day, unsure if the assassin would return. Merlin had deposited Arthur's dinner in his chambers as fast as he could and meandered around the chambers, searching for any signs of trouble. He didn't want to leave Arthur alone for any length of time. After all of his hard work and quick service, he was thanked by a cranky Arthur, complaining about his drink of all things.

"Arthur, it's water," Merlin said tiredly, "It's not supposed to taste great, but not as bad as you're making it out to be."

"I think you should try it, tell me your formal opinion," Arthur poured Merlin a small cup and handed it to him with a small glint in his eye. Merlin just eyed Arthur, wondering how spoiled he had to be, complaining about the taste of his water. Merlin shrugged and gave a bottoms up gesture. As soon as the liquid touched his tongue however, he spit it back out into the cup. He pulled a face that made Arthur smile in triumph. He grabbed a grape off of Arthur's dinner plate and chewed it, hoping to get the foul taste out of his mouth.

"That tastes worse than one of Gaius's potions!" Merlin exclaimed after he had swallowed the grape, which did little to help the flavor.

"Where did you get the water? From the horse's water bucket?" Arthur followed Merlin's lead and ate some bread off of his plate to rid himself of the flavor.

"I got it from where I get it every day!" Merlin took the pitcher of water over to the window and poured its contents out into the corner of the castle below. A stray dog came over and started lapping it up into his mouth. "Oi, off that!" Merlin called down to the dog, who promptly ignored him and continued on his merry way. He walked back to the table and took the wine pitcher he had just brought up from the kitchen and poured Arthur another drink, which he gulped down greedily. Merlin wracked his brain for what could have caused such a distinct flavoring to the water.

"Now that I think about it, maybe I used a different pale than I usually do. But that's never been a problem before. All the servants clean them out when they're done." He reasoned.

"Which brings us back to the main problem of servants. As I was saying, the new knights are demanding more servants because there's a shortage, due to a sickness that seems to be spreading in the lower town. I told them that they might have to make do with what they have, but they are demanding more workers. So I have generously volunteered you to help out with some of the duties." Merlin groaned out loud, desperately trying to find a reason he shouldn't do the extra work and stick close to Arthur in case the assassin came back. "You get to sharpen swords, polish more armor, and attend to the knights if worst comes to worst."

"How come I get all the heavy lifting jobs?" Merlin complained.

"Don't be such a girl Merlin." Arthur said smiling at his servants' antics. Merlin faced away from him, and his face grew serious at the thought of leaving Arthur alone. _"Well,"_ he reasoned in his head, _"I can place more wards around the chambers and training grounds to alert me to any activity I don't know of."_ He decided to be more vigilant of unusual activity. Figuring that it was the best he was going to be able to do without alerting Arthur to an Assassin that knows of Merlin's magic, Merlin conceded to the extra work he was going to be doing. With mumbled protest, Merlin continued to clean the table from dinner.

 _"It's going to be a long week."_ Merlin thought to himself.

* * *

In another part of the castle, a man ducked into a notch in the wall as a guard passed by, his torch illuminating the dark corridors. As the guard turned the corner, he stuck his head out of the cove and scanned for more people. A tug on his coat stopped him as a statue caught his sleeve. He untangled himself hurriedly wanting to avoid any guards. He quietly slipped out of his hiding spot and continued on his trek to his employers meeting place. He stood quietly on top of one of the walls surrounding Camelot. It overlooked the sleeping buildings in the lower part of the kingdom. His employer was nowhere to be seen. He opted to wait it out for a little bit.

On the outside he was the perfect statue, silently staring out into the horizon. In his mind, images raged through his head as he reviewed the events of the day. A sorcerer in the midst of Camelot, a servant to the prince no less. The _boy_ had managed to knock him out and humiliated him by leaving him in such a vulnerable and uncomfortable position. He gritted his teeth at the thought of being defeated without so much as a fight. As a man of integrity, the assassin knew he could not handle his reputation tainted with the report of a mere boy easily overtaking him. _"The boy is not crucial to the report,"_ the assassin reasoned. There was no need for his employer to know about that failure. With still no sign of his benefactor, he decided to wait two more minutes before leaving to minimize the risk of being seen.

The assassin did not have to wait long. A quick clicking sound alerted the man to an approaching figure covered in a dark cloak. He kneeled down on the ground, head bowed in front of his employer.

"Is it done?" A female voice asked from underneath the hood.

"It is, my lady. The plan went accordingly." His deep Celtic voice was muffled underneath the cloth covering his mouth. The assassin stood up in front of the woman, looking to the part of the cloak where her eyes would have been had her face been visible. She reached into her cloak and pulled out a sack of money.

"As promised," she told the man. He bowed his head and grabbed the pouch, double checking his payment. Bowing again, he took his leave. The gray-cloaked figure watched as the assassin walked around the corner and out of site. She allowed a small smirk of triumph to flitter across her face. The Lady Morgana turned on her heel and headed back down the corridor and into her chambers. If her plan worked out, no one could save Arthur and the crown would be hers.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello all! Sorry this update took so long. I focus primarily on school, so I fit this in whenever I can. I realize my writing is not great (or good at times) but I went over this chapter many times so hopefully, it sounds fine. It is a filler chapter to get to the action, I felt like if I skipped this it would be cheating so I went on and did it. Thank you to all who review/favorited/ followed this story! I appreciate it, gives me the motivation to keep going. To dragonscout007, thank you brother dear for your great support.**

 **Also LOOKING FOR A BETA. If you know anyone, please pm or review the name. It would be much appreciated. I'll shut up now.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.**

 **Note: Edited May 29, 2019**

 _Chapter 2_

The morning was cold and drizzly. Slow rain had started sometime during the night and continued its constant downpour well into the morning. All around Camelot, few people dared to leave the confinements of their home. The courtyard, which was usually buzzing with people, was left deserted. The servants that were up in the early hours were still rushing about, doing their chores, preferring to stay hidden inside the warm castle. Like on any cold and rainy day, the dreary atmosphere traveling among the people weighed heavily in the air.

Merlin had woken up in a strange position with his hip facing the wall and his shoulders flat against the firm bed. As he stretched out, his muscles ached at the unexpected movement. The bruise on his leg tingled with the blood flow finally restored to it. As his bones popped back into place, Merlin realized he had gotten a full night's worth of deep sleep. It surprised him that to know that none of the wards placed up around the prince's chambers had alerted him to another attempt at the prince's life. The only proof of the assassin's presence was the black and blue bruise swollen on his leg.

"Merlin, are you up?" Gaius called through the flimsy wooden door separating Merlin's room to the physician's chambers. Merlin groaned in response pulling his sheet up over his chin and ignored his mentor's call. The door creaked open as Gaius entered the room and looked down at the back of his sleeping ward. He placed his hands on his hips, "I know you're awake. You told me to get you up. Arthur needs you this morning. Come on. Up, up." Gaius took Merlin's blanket and pulled it down to the bottom of his bed, leaving Merlin fully exposed to the cold air and in a worse mood than before. Gaius, confident that he was fully awake, left the chambers and went to start the fire to cook the porridge that had made the night before.

It took a good ten minutes before Merlin found the motivation to leave his bed and climb down the stairs. The fireplace in the physician's room was ablaze and the room was beginning to fill with a pleasant aroma of the food cooking. Gaius handed him a bowl of mush for breakfast, fresh from the pot, and ladled one to himself as well. They sat down across from each other at the table, careful to avoid the space that was covered by books and paper. The younger of the two silently ate his breakfast with a frown plastered firmly on his face, still trying to fully wake up. Gaius sat in the silence, growing curious at his apprentices' apparent lack of his usual enthusiasm.

"Did you find any more clues about what could have happened to the assassin?" Gaius' question broke the silence. Merlin shook his head in answer and continued to pick at the food in his bowl. Gaius tried again. "Do you think that he could be associated with the incoming Hathrow delegates?"

"Perhaps. I don't know yet." Merlin took his bowl over to the rest of the dirty dishes that were stacked in a corner. Gaius observed his wards movements carefully. Merlin looked more drained than he had the previous night. His face wore a serious, less carefree look. The stress of the past few years clearly written all over his face. It bore a deep wound into Guias to see the more mature look. Less of the boyish tint that it had maintained since arriving in Camelot.

"Is everything alright my boy, you look… worn." Gaius carefully worded his question.

"Hmm," Merlin pursed his lips, distracted. "Oh, no. I'm sorry, Gaius. Everything's fine. Just a sore and tired this morning. I must have hit my leg harder than I thought. It's more swollen than it was."

Gaius got up and pulled a potion out of one of the many cupboards covering the room.

"Take this," He handed it to Merlin, "It should help with the pain." Merlin smiled and thanked him, chugging the mixture down in one gulp in attempt to avoid the flavor. Pulling a face at the aftertaste, he grabbed his jacket from the bench. With a quick nod at Gaius, he headed out the door.

"I'll see you tonight," Merlin called back to his mentor as he left the chambers. Gaius shook his head, reflecting on how strange his life had become since that boy had entered his threshold. There never seemed to be any downtime. He grabbed his herb basket and followed his ward out the door to begin his rounds in the lower town.

Merlin stopped by the kitchens to grab Arthur's breakfast, which today, consisted of some fruit, bacon, bread, sausage, and an assortment of cheese. Merlin's own stomach growled at the sight of the heavenly food, sending complaints up to his brain about the meager amount of porridge he had eaten. He tried ignored the thoughts but the food was too tempting to resist. He stopped and stepped into a little alcove to make sure no one saw when he plopped one grape into his mouth to satisfy his protesting stomach. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a small piece of fabric caught on one of the armored statues right next to him. Merlin pulled it off and examined the midnight blue material. The same material of the assassin's jacket. A closer observation of the small alcove provided no other clues about where the assassin had gone or who he was. Merlin tucked the small cloth into his jacket pocket and continued on his became so lost in his own thoughts of assassins and knives that he almost took the wrong passageway three times.

Closer to the royal chambers wing, Merlin spied Morgana down the hall walking towards him. Merlin looked back at the ground, trying to ignore the knot in his stomach. Usually, both servant and ward to the King tried to ignore each other whenever possible. If they passed in the hallway, it was mutually accepted that they would find a wall or the ground incredibly fascinating until they passed each other. However, Morgana seemed to have different plans today.

"Merlin?" His head snapped up as Morgana called his name. They stared at each other for a few seconds. Morgana eyed him critically, as if looking for something. Neither of them said anything.

"Morgana?" Merlin was starting to become uncomfortable under her gaze. "Did you need something?"

Morgana refocused her attention and locked eyes with Merlin, a small look of triumph fluttered across her face. "Never mind." Was all she commented and swept off leaving a confused Merlin in her track.

"What was that about?" He wondered and reviewed the interaction in his mind's eye again, trying to understand her unusual behavior. No answers jumped out at him.

With Arthur's door was just up ahead, Merlin hesitated, tempted to call out after Morgana. With a small shake of his head, he continued on to deliver the food. Whatever Morgana was planning, he would figure it out later. For now, the Hathrow delegation would be arriving soon and Arthur needed to be there when they did. Focusing back on the present, Merlin silently entered the prince's chambers and set the metal tray down on the table by last night's water pitcher. He checked to make sure that it had been refilled by another servant during the night. Satisfied, he quietly crossed the chambers to where the curtains were hanging in the window. A smile pulled at his face looking at the sleeping lump on the bed. This was the part of the day he loved the most. He threw back the curtains revealing the morning light that filtered through the rain clouds, landing directly on Prince Arthur.

"Rise and shine! Up we go! It's a beautiful new day today." Merlin called out to the sleeping form.

"MERLIN!" Arthur complained as he pulled the blanket over his head.

"Oh no you don't." Merlin pulled the blanket off of the sleepy man and forced him to feel the frigid cold air. A pillow sailed past his left ear as the prince unsuccessfully tried to block the light out of his eyes. Merlin continued on, cheerily poking Arthur until he rolled out of bed, still grumbling under his breath, and ducked behind the changing station to avoid his servants annoyingly happy smile. He was not in the mood for the excitement this early in the morning. Merlin went to the closest to pick out clothes for the day.

"Put a fire on, will you Merlin. It's freezing," Arthur said from behind the wooden panels.

"It's autumn sire. You should get used to it." Merlin smiled to himself as he pulled out a shirt and placed it with the pants on the bed. Arthur came back out with an annoyed expression on his face, ready to remind his servant that he was the one giving orders. Merlin stood by the bed with his hands clasped behind his back and smiling.

"Your clothes, my liege." He bowed dramatically.

"Shut up, Merlin." Arthur took the clothes back around the screen and changed into the warmer material. Merlin threw logs onto the fire and gave a quick look over his shoulder to make sure Arthur was still behind the changing station. He whispered,

"Forbearnan." The fire blazed to life, crackling in the cold air. Merlin started to clean up the room, picking up dirty clothes or bits of armor he could find. It truly was a mess. He tried to remember the last time he had cleaned the room.

Arthur emerged from behind the privacy of the wall, fully dressed, and sat down at the small table, tiredly picking at the cheese bits. He stared off in thought at the opposite wall, mirroring Merlin's earlier half-awake face. Something about Arthur's posture attracted Merlin's attention. He paused his cleaning for a moment to overlook his strange discovery. It was almost like Arthur's features had hardened overnight. Merlin could have sworn the day before that he looked exactly like had for the past year. But now, his face looked a more pronounced and his body language more mature. If Merlin hadn't been looking carefully, he might not have noticed the difference. It was still hard to spot, but now that he had spotted it, something had definitely changed. Merlin went back to cleaning wondering how long it had been since he allowed himself a break to observe and enjoy the world around him. Although, with the assassin roaming around, it was understandable.

The rest of the morning continued much the same way as it always did. Little pokes were thrown at each other and the teasing continued until the pair were standing outside of the doors to the King's throne room. The guards pulled open the heavy oak, allowing admittance to the Prince and his manservant. The throne room was filled with advisors and knights, already waiting for the delegation to arrive. Arthur strode up the middle of the room to sit by his father who had noticed his arrival and dismissed the servant he was speaking to. Merlin scooted around the side of the room to stand behind the three royal chairs that were set up at the head of the room.

Merlin noticed as he made his way up the aisle, that the King's forehead creased momentarily as he looked his son, giving him a puzzled look. Uther continued on to greet the young man with a small smile. Whatever had troubled the king, he kept it to himself. Beside the King, his ward sat tall and proud in her chair, ignoring the prince's arrival until he sat down. She gracefully turned toward Arthur and silently scrutinizing his every move, unseen by either of the other royals who had already started a conversation in hushed whispers. Merlin took note of the strange behavior and stood in his place off to the side of his master seat. The delegation from the party arrived a few minutes later.

"My lord." the leader of the party bowed.

"Kane." Uther Pendragon respectfully nodded.

"My apologies for our lateness. The weather was not on our side this morning."

"It is understandable." The King smiled kindly, waving his hand as an indication to proceed.

* * *

The Hathrow representatives began the long debate. Arthur sat through a few minutes of listening to the concerns of food taxation, but soon lost interest in the trivial details. The discussion faded in and out, as he listened to only half of the conversation. He glanced to the side at Merlin, who looked as bored as he felt. Inwardly, Arthur sighed at the lack of excitement in the meeting. It was going to be a long day.

The talks took most of the morning and by the time the villagers were content with what had been arranged, the sun was well above Camelot and Arthur was hungry for lunch. He quickly stood up, anxious to leave the stiff environment.

"Arthur," He mentally cursed at his father's summoning, looking at the door longingly. Facing his father, Arthur kept silent and respectfully bowed his head slightly. "How has the training been with the knights?"

"They are inexperienced. Only a few have shown the dedication of a knight and none have particularly impressed me." Arthur truthfully answered.

"Push them harder, only the best may join our ranks." Uther dismissed his son and returned his attention to his advisors that were now crowding around, all eager to share their knowledge and input on how the meeting had gone.

Merlin met up with Arthur in the hallway after escaping the crowd of servants rushing in and out of the large room. He gave Arthur a trademark smile as they started off down the hall, back to the Prince's room.

"Merlin, bring my lunch up to my room, I'll meet you there." Arthur looked to his servant as he nodded and broke off to go fetch the food. Arthur turned the next corner and bumped into someone, their basket and its contents flew to the floor.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't see you." A familiar voice said from the ground. Arthur looked down at the top of the head of brown curly hair and smiled.

"Guinevere!" The beautiful servant girl looked up startled and grew even more embarrassed at who she had walked into.

"Arthur!" She squeaked out. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" Gwen started picking up the flowers that had fallen out of her basket. Arthur bent down and started to help gather all of the ones closest to him.

"It's alright. I wasn't looking where I was going." Arthur said standing up and offering a hand to Gwen who gratefully took it. She quickly brushed off her skirt and looked apologetically up at Arthur. Although he was smiling the way he always did, something seemed off. Gwen couldn't put her finger on it, but he just seemed different. His face seemed more… something. More mature perhaps? Sculpted? Perhaps it was just the way the light hit his face. Not that there was a problem with it. Not at all. It was just odd. His voice broke through her thoughts. "What brings you this way?"

"I went out this morning and got some flowers. I mean, obviously, I got some flowers. But, they're for the rooms. I was going to put them in vases around the castle…. Well, they have to go in vases. Where else would I put them? But you know that…" Gwen nervously stammered. Over the years, she had grown increasingly comfortable around the crowned prince of Camelot. She even found herself falling in love with him. However, after being accused of witchcraft (for the second time) for making Arthur fall in love with her, Gwen found herself embarrassed every time people would look at them in public, as they were now. Arthur on the other hand either didn't notice or did not care about everyone else. His eyes never left her face, drinking in one of the rare times he saw her.

"Guinevere." Arthur interrupted her ramblings. "I don't mind." She flushed under his gaze.

"Um… would you mind if I…" She indicated to the flowers still in his hand. Arthur made a confused face and looked down to see what she was pointing at.

"Oh! Yes, right. Here." He passed them back to Gwen.

"Sire," Gwen bowed to Arthur with a smile and continued on her journey. Arthur watched her back until she was out of sight. He then concluded to himself that he had learned very little after the incident with the sorcerer of being more secretive about their… relationship. If it could even be called that. Arthur continued on his way. Neither of the two saw Morgana discretely dissolving back into the shadows of where she was hidden after watching their little interaction from a distance.

In Arthur's chambers, Merlin had arrived with the food and was waiting patiently for the prince to return. Gaius's potion was beginning to wear off and his shin was throbbing again after the walk from the kitchens to the bedroom. He sat down in a chair facing the window and rolled up his pant leg. The bruise that had been much large that morning was considerably smaller and less colorful. Yet the small thing hurt almost as bad, if not worse than before. Merlin began to debate using magic to heal himself, having previously dismissed the idea for such a superficial thing. He was still poking and prodding at the bump when Arthur came in.

"What are you doing?" Merlin jumped at the sound of the voice behind him.

"Arthur! Don't you ever learn to knock?" Arthur made a face at his own words being thrown back at him.

"This is my room, Merlin,"

"Really? I thought a pig lived in here. Besides, I've cleaned it enough that I think it is more of my room."

" I'm paying you to do it! And you didn't answer my question." Arthur moved in front of Merlin to see a small bruise on his shin. "What'd you do?"

"Ah… Whacked my leg on the dresser yesterday. It hurts more than it did last night." Merlin poked at the lump again.

"Don't be such a girl's petticoat, it's just a bruise. You've had worse." Arthur remembered all of the times Merlin came in complaining about scratches and cuts he had acquired being a moving dummy target for the knights during training.

"Yes, I know. But it still hurts." Merlin reflected back onto the Serket sting that he had received a while ago. The bruise was definitely not that painful. Nothing was as painful as that. However, it still stung more than it should have. Arthur rolled his eyes and grabbed a few chunks of meat off his plate and ate it as he took off his jacket and shirt to put on his sparring equipment.

"Help me get ready for practice. I have to teach the young knights again." Arthur pulled his new shirt over his head and folded the cuffs to fit his arm's length. Merlin rolled his pant leg back down and stood back up to collect the chainmail for Arthur's training. The first few steps caused him to wince at the weight being put onto his shin, but the pain was soon discarded as background noise. "Now," Merlin thought, "Where did I put the armor".

Fifteen minutes later, Arthur and Merlin managed to find all the missing pieces of the armor that were scattered across the room. They placed the armor in a pile on the bed along with the chainmail which Merlin had already found lying on the chair from where they had been placed yesterday. Arthur nibbled on his food while Merlin worked on dressing him for combat. They worked in content silence, both too busy with what they were doing to verbally communicate with one another. The final strap was secured into place with a satisfied pat.

"All set," Merlin picked the helmet off the mattress and handed it to the prince. Arthur grabbed one last sausage and headed for the door. Halfway out the exit, he turned back to face his manservant who was picking up all the dishes left over.

"While I am down at practice, I need some chores done. You can wash my cape, collect my boots from the tailor, make sure the horses are fed, wash the floors, and-" Arthur looked around the room as if inspecting it. "clean up this mess." He smiled at the exasperated expression on Merlin's face and started off down the hallway.

"Prat!" Merlin called after him.

"Can't call me that Merlin!" Arthur's voice responded. Merlin shook his head and continued with the dishes.

It had taken most of the time Arthur was down in training to complete the chores that had been given to Merlin. Nothing seemed to be going as it should. The tailor had talked for a good length of time about nothing but molding the leather just right on Arthur's boots. Merlin painstakingly listened to the lecture before excusing himself. Next, the horse feed had been moved from its original place and took a long time to find. The cape, after being freshly washed, blew away in the wind and into a pile of muck. The floors took forever to wash (no surprise there), and the prince's room stubbornly refused to look decent. By the time it was all done, Merlin had a little over half an hour to do as he pleased.

He decided, after all that work, he could play around with his spellbook. It usually helped him to relax and enjoy the small time of peace and quiet that he occasionally received. Also, perhaps grabbing another potion from Gaius could help with his now very sore leg. The long walks from place to place had taken a toll on his leg.

Merlin relaxed as he walked into the warm physician's room, enjoying the familiar smells that surrounded him. The fire was still burning strong, boiling a strange green mixture in the kettle over it that he desperately hoped was not dinner. The familiarity drew calm waves from the tired servant. The relief of being home lasted for five sweet seconds.

"Merlin, finished with all your chores?" Arthur was sitting on the patient's cot, his armor stripped off and lying next to him. Whether his clothes drenched in either rain or sweat, it was impossible to tell. The training session had left him red in the face. The court physician was handing him a glass vial with a brown substance inside of it that did not look all that appetizing. Merlin's dream of a relaxing break all but vanished. No practicing magic with the crowned prince of Camelot visiting in the adjacent room.

"What are you doing here?" Merlin questioned.

"He pulled his right shoulder in a practice exercise," Gaius said, rotating Arthur's shoulder experimentally. The man in question winced as his arm was pulled back too far.

"How did you do that? Didn't you say that those knights, and I quote, did not have enough training, that even if they combine all their skills, they wouldn't have been able to defeat you?" Merlin was trying to hiding a smile.

"No Merlin, the knights couldn't even land a blow on me."

"So how did you pull it?"

"I was demonstrating a disarming technique."

"Against a dummy?"

"Yes. I rotated too quick and slipped on the wet ground. Landed on my shoulder."

"Ah, I see. So, you're saying, a dummy beat you." The smile was slowly inching across Merlin's face. Arthur's opened his mouth with an indignant expression on his face, ready to defend his actions.

"I'm afraid that you will have to sit out of training for a while sire." Gaius interrupted, already moving away from his patient. "I wouldn't advise any strenuous physical activity. I will send more pain medications up with Merlin tomorrow morning." Arthur was still glaring at his manservant but said,

"Thank you, Gaius." He rolled his shoulder around a bit, trying to stretch it out.

"Here, Merlin." Gaius gave his apprentice a cup of the same brown liquid as Arthur had taken. "To help with your leg."

"How'd you know it still hurt," Merlin asked confused, but gratefully took the cup anyway. Gaius's eyebrow twitched a little bit.

"You were limping when you came in."

"Was I?" Merlin didn't even notice. The pain had turned into background noise.

"It's just a bruise Merlin." Arthur stood up holding his arm tightly.

"It's just a pulled muscle Arthur," Merlin said. They glared at each other half-heartedly before he quickly gulped the medicine.

"For both of you," Gaius cut in, "I suggest taking it easy as to not aggravate the injuries further."

Gaius seemed content to let his patients off as long as they promised to follow his instructions and rest easy for the remainder of the night. After getting verbal confirmation from both men, they exited the physician's chambers. As they walked the halls to Arthur's room, a servant they passed had gladly agreed to bring dinner up to the royal chambers, leaving Merlin with a shorter distance to walk.  
_

Over the next few hours, the pair managed, in their prescribed downtime, to finish all the small tasks that they never seemed to get around to. A stack of documents was missing from the prince's desk, signed and delivered to their respective places. Several pairs of the prince's boots were now shiny and lined up in the newly cleaned room. And to top it all off, just to get ahead of schedule, they had combined their efforts into creating a welcoming speech that was to be recited at a royal banquet in five days time for a royal delegation hailing from the small kingdom of Kent, that lined the coast. By the time the darkness had descended upon the castle, Merlin and Arthur were both relaxed and ready for a long night's worth of rest.

Inside of the prince's chambers, the fire was blazing, warming every inch of the place. Arthur was seated in his armchair, holding a goblet with something a little stronger than water as its contents. Merlin was again at the closet, pulling out the next day's worth of clothing and setting them on the hope chest at the bottom of the bed. The tranquil atmosphere of the evening was infectious. Merlin stayed silent reveling in the peacefulness. No assassins, no major confrontations with Morgana, and it all ended with a quiet Arthur. A bonus in Merlin's books.

"Do you…" Arthur's words broke the silence. He was intently staring at Merlin, almost searching his face.

"Do I what?" Merlin asked. Arthur shook his head, dismissing his thought.

"Never mind. You can go now," Arthur said rubbing his eyes as he stood up. He left his drink on the ground by the chair and walked over to the bed.

"You sure you don't need anything else?" Merlin asked out of courtesy, already making his way to the door.

"I will be fine. Get a good night of rest. You look like you need it."

"Alright, thank you, Arthur. Good night."

"Good night Merlin."

Merlin silently shut the door behind him. The walk back to his own chambers felt quicker than normal. With a small dinner and a few words shared with his mentor, Merlin concluded his day and lied down on his pillow. A quick mental check showed that the wards set up in place around the prince's chambers were still in place. With that final comforting thought in his head, Merlin fell into a deep sleep. Gaius followed his example soon after. With both inhabitants asleep, no one saw the small flash of white light that encompassed Merlin's small room before receding back into pitch darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you to EpicXxFail for betaing this chapter!**

 **Note: Edited May 31, 2019**

Chapter 3

Merlin woke the next day to an awful clamoring noise coming from the main room. The sound was muffled slightly by the door, but the definite crash of metal pots being tossed around with the occasional clinking of small potion vials. He sat up straight, intently listening to the clamor for a few moments. His eyes slowly adjusted to the small beams of light that were streaming in through the window. The dawn fog hid the small raindrops that poured from the sky in the window pane, but the light pounding on the roof was enough to know that it had yet to stop drizzling. Merlin carefully climbed out of bed and tiptoed to the door with his hand raised in front of him. All at once, the banging sounds stopped as abruptly as they started.

"Merlin," Gaius's voice called out to him, "The lower town's illness is starting to spread. I have to try to contain the problem." Merlin relaxed at his mentor's voice. His heart was still be beating too fast to be normal, but the thought of someone breaking into the house rang clearly through his mind.

"Go ahead Gaius," Merlin called back before entering the main chambers, just in time to see the last remains of the physician's robes disappear out the door. He looked around at the mess that Gaius had left in his wake. He had apparently needed to find something in a hurry and didn't bother with putting anything away. Merlin quickly muttered a spell and watched as all of the vials and cooking utensils flew back to where they were supposed to be. He went back upstairs and changed into some fresh clothes in the darkroom, knowing that he would not be able to go to sleep after that adrenaline rush.

Merlin took his time with his morning routine and was still out the door with time to spare until he had to wake Arthur. He walked slowly down the corridors to the kitchen where everyone was too busy preparing food to notice his arrival. The prince's breakfast was already laid out and waiting for pick up on a table. He took it and balanced the platters precariously on his arms. Walking down the corridors, he passed only a few servants in the passages that he didn't recognize but still smiled politely in greeting.

After many years of practice, Merlin was able to quietly sneak into the royal chambers with no problem opening the door without the use of his hands. He set down the plates on the table only just realizing that he had not eaten, in the surprise of the morning. Later on, he would have to grab a bite to eat. But for now, since he was already here, he would begin his wake up call.

"Gahh!" Arthur yelled as he flung a pillow to cover his face as soon as the morning light entered the room. Merlin smiled at his master's lumpy form covered from head to toe by blankets.

"Rise and shine!" He said in his usual greeting while gathering up the clothing at the end of the bed. "Come on. I already have your clothes ready."

* * *

"Merlin. How you are this cheerful in the morning I'll never…"Arthur's waking words died on his lips as he pulled the pillow away from his face. He blinked a few times. It took a few seconds for him to comprehend what he was seeing. His manservant was at the bottom of the bed focused on trying to smooth out his clothing from being folded up all night. He had his usual cheeky look on his face and the usual red neckerchief hung where it always was.

But, the thing was, there was no way this man could be Merlin. No. Definitely not.

For starters, his servant didn't have the slight wrinkles that creased this man's forehead. Nor, for that matter, did he have any of the small grey hairs that were scattered about the strangers otherwise raven dark hair. And his Merlin, most certainly, did not have a beard. Arthur stared speechless at this man who so looked like his friend, but at the same time was completely foreign.

"Food's ready and on the table when you want it. Nice and hot from the kitchens." He said without looking at Arthur to confirm that he was up. Instead, the man started to stack logs on to the fire to begin the cold day, as if everything was normal. The prince never let his eyes drift from the stranger. Arthur stealthily got out of bed and grabbed his sword which lay on his nightstand. He silently pulled it out of its sheath and pointed it at the back of the man's neck. To his credit, the stranger stiffened under the slight pressure of the metal tip, but made no other move.

"Arthur?" he questioned.

"Who are you?" Arthur spit out.

"What? It's me, Merlin!" The Merlin looking man said, trying to turn around, but Arthur placed more weight on the sword stopping his actions.

"Face me slowly," Arthur commanded. The man did as he was commanded and looked up at the prince with such a Merlin-like look of astonishment that he almost lowered his sword.

"Wha…" Was all mystery Merlin managed to say, still searching Arthur's face. Both men stared at each other for a few seconds until Merlin finally exclaimed, "What happened to you!" Which was most certainly not what Arthur was prepared to hear.

"I asked, who are you," He placed his sword on the man's' neck.

"I'm Merlin," the man answered hesitantly. "Who are you?"

"I am Arthur, the crowned prince of Camelot and I would like to know what you have done with my servant."

"I am Merlin."

"No, your not. For one, my manservant does not have a beard." Not-Merlin's expression was the perfect combination of confusion and aggravation at the accusations. Still looking at Arthur, he reached up to his chin with one hand subconsciously.

"I do not have a…beard." The stranger seemed stunned at the revelation that, he did in fact, have a short goatee reaching just past his chin, not yet to his Adam's apple. In fact, he seemed to panic slightly and slowly stood up, looking around the room for something. Arthur kept the sword pointed at him as the man cautiously walked over to Arthur's nightstand. He picked up a small hand mirror that Arthur kept in the drawer. His mouth opened in shock as he ran his hand through his facial hair. Then he ran his hand through his graying hair, seemingly too overcome with confusion to do much else.

"No, no, no, no…" the man muttered under his breath.

"So, who are you," Arthur said with less conviction on seeing the genuinely confused reaction to the man's appearance. Not-Merlin jumped at his words forgetting that the prince was there.

"Listen, Arthur. I need you to look into the mirror." He said holding the small object out.

"Why?" suspicion laced the royal's words.

"Please, just trust me and look," Merlin flipped the mirror so that Arthur could see his own reflection.

Arthur reeled for a second before dropping the tip of his sword down and staring dumbfounded at what he saw. His face held several deep age lines that were most certainly not there yesterday. His hair had acquired a few gray strands that were less visible because of his blond hair. His laugh lines were a bit more pronounced and his eyes were beginning to crease around the edges. He would not call his look old, more along the lines of getting old but not quite there yet.

Arthur backed away and raised his sword again, aiming it at the other man. "What kind of sorcery is this?!"

"I don't know!" Not-Merlin's agitation grew, "But if you would stop being thick for one minute, you would see that I'm in the same boat as you are," Arthur dropped his sword again. Only one person he knew of would have the audacity to talk to royalty in such manner. They stared at each other, taking in the changes that they had both undergone.

"You have a beard," Arthur stated. Merlin brought his hand up and stroked it, still amazed that he hadn't noticed it before.

"You have grey hair." He shot back.

"So do you!" Arthur threw his hands (and sword) up in the air with annoyance. "Well, how the hell did this happen!"

"You think I know?" Merlin looked in the mirror again with growing apprehension. Arthur plopped himself down in his armchair, unable to stand any longer.

"What are we going to do?" The questions were not directed specifically at Merlin, but he answered anyway.

"We'll have to tell Gaius. He may know how to... reverse this."

"We can't just go walking around the castle. I mean, look at us! What will people think when they see the prince has been cursed. Panic would ensue." Arthur rubbed his eyes in irritation.

"Would ensue?" Merlin thought to himself. He was already panicking. How did this happen? How could he possibly turn them back to normal? Merlin's spell book had very little on reversing an aging curse, only three that he was aware of. The aging spells it described did not consist of the symptoms he was experiencing now. The reversal spell for them would probably only make the situation worse. Gaius was the next best source of information to figure out how to undo the transformation.

Merlin knew that he would have to go and find Gaius himself, but was reluctant to leave Arthur alone with the possibility of whoever caused this, coming back. Merlin was not taking a chance of endangering Arthur's security. No, instead he had to focus on the question of what happened to them in the span of a night? If he could work it out, it might narrow down his search for reversal spells. Had there been anything unusual that had happened recently?

His thoughts jumped back to the assassin who had mysteriously disappeared after his sole attempt on Arthur's life. The attack may not have been a completely failed mission, but a distraction from the real purpose. Perhaps the assassin was not trying to kill the prince outright. Instead, he must have placed an enchantment on both Arthur and himself. Merlin tried to remember if there were any odd instances that might signify when the spell was put in place.

The pitcher. The strange tasting water that night was not a coincidence. It was no spell, but rather a potion that had landed them in this predicament. The assassin must have slipped something into the water. The water which both Merlin and Arthur had tasted. He had to confirm his suspicions with his mentor, but as far as he knew, only powerful magic could affect the aging process of a human being so rapidly. He had to get to Gaius, but…

"Arthur," Merlin began hesitantly, drawing the other man out of his own thoughts. "Gaius went to the lower town this morning to help with the sickness. He won't be in his chambers until at least midday." Arthur just groaned and sank back into his chair.

"How did this happen?" Arthur mumbled to himself. Merlin was tempted to provide his insight but knew that if he did, he would have to explain how he knew about the assassin in the first place. He couldn't just say that he had knocked out a highly trained killer with magic and then proceed to let him get away. Needless to say. that conversation would not go over well.

As one, both occupants of the room jumped (although they would furiously deny it if ever asked) as someone knocked on the door. They looked at each other fearfully.

"Who is it?" Arthur called out cautiously, trying to not sound too uncomfortable with his current predicament.

"It's Guinevere, sire." At this, Arthur looked even more panicked. His Guinevere could not see him like this. He had grown grey hair overnight for crying out loud. The sure sign of an old man.

Merlin, on the other hand, was immensely relieved. If he could count on one person to understand the situation they were in (other than Gaius), he could think of no one better than Gwen. He started to walk towards the door.

"What are you doing!" Arthur whispered urgently.

"Gwen can help us! Only she needs to know. No one else. But we need someone to find Gaius for us." Merlin reasoned in his best placid tone. Arthur, it seemed, had no real logical rebuttal for his companion. So Merlin opened the door a crack allowing his voice to travel through the door easy, but not allow Gwen to see him just yet. She was holding a cup of what looked like warm tea.

"Gwen," He said to her as she held up the cup, as if a offering.

"I was bringing the Lady Morgana's breakfast to her when the kitchen staff said that you had taken the meal up to Arthur without them seeing. They wanted to make sure that Arthur got his drink, so I offered to bring it up. Is everything alright?" She asked when he didn't open the door for her right away.

"Well, we have a problem. Err, just brace yourself. I don't think I can say much to prepare you." Merlin opened the door but stayed hidden behind the wooden mass to hide from the guards in the hallway. He shut the door behind her as she entered the room. The cup dropped to the floor, forgotten. Gwen's hands went up to her face and a small gasp escaped her.

"Merlin…" Was all she managed to squeak out as he turned around to face her fully. Whatever she had been expecting it certainly was not this. "What…?"

"I don't know. Arthur and I woke up this morning like this." Gwen subconsciously reached up and poked the bristles on his chin to make sure she wasn't dreaming. It was foreign looking on the young man's face. The gray hair sprinkled throughout his hair did not help with the surprise of her friend's appearance either. It took a moment for her brain to processed the rest of his sentence.

"Arthur? Is he alright?" Gwen said worried, tearing her eyes off of Merlin's strange transformation to look for the prince. Again, the shock of seeing Arthur standing in the middle of the room, looking at her with a face older than she remembered him ever having, left her speechless. He looked self-conscious under her scrutiny.

"Guinevere?" He asked uncertainty.

"Wha- what happened?" She repeated, finally getting over her initial bewilderment. "You, both of you, you're older?" Arthur moved closer to both Merlin and Gwen and tried to relay all the information he knew about their… predicament.

"We don't know what has happened. As Merlin said, he woke me up this morning, and," he motioned to himself helplessly.

"And you have grey hair," Gwen finished, "and Merlin has a beard."

"I'm fairly sure he has more grey hair than I do," Arthur said defensively. At that Merlin gave a small protest which was ignored. Gwen cupped Arthur's face with her hands studying the new lines that had appeared overnight. He made no move to stop her and stared back at her with a deflated look. All three of them knew that Arthur hated having no control of what had happened and was glad for Gwen's presence to calm his nerves. Merlin silently let them have their moment before he intervened.

"Gwen, we need to get to Gaius. Whatever is happening, he'll have more knowledge of the situation than the rest of us. "

"You want me to get him," Gwen said, anticipating Merlin's thoughts

"Yes. I don't know how well people would react to our … aging, so we have to keep this quiet. Gaius is in the lower town helping with the sickness in the lower town. He should still be down there."

"I'll tell him to come as soon as he can," Gwen said already moving to the doorway.

"Guinevere," Arthur called with a soft smile, "thank you." She nodded and gave a last once over of both men. With a small smile she said,

"The beard suits you, Merlin," And with those parting words, Arthur and Merlin were left alone in the room together. Again, the latter of the two could not help but stroke at his chin in fascination of the newly acquired facial hair.

"Now what?" Merlin asked.

"Now, I have breakfast," Arthur decided. Merlin looked at him as if he had grown two heads.

"How can you eat at a time like this!"

"Is there another option for us, because I would love to hear it." He said seriously. No trace of humor in his words. "There is not much we can do right now. So I am going to do one normal thing. I am going to eat, get dressed, and then we can deal with this."

Arthur brushed past Merlin and grabbed his clothes from where they had been laid out. He changed quickly and sat in front of his now cold breakfast. After a few bites, his stomach did flips, not ready to digest anything after the startling rude awakening so early in the morning. Merlin was sitting, slouched, at the other seat at the end of the table staring into space, hand still on his beard. Arthur secretly thought Gwen was right, the goatee made him look less like the clumsy idiot that he was. It gave his friend a more sophisticated look. It really did suit him. Not that Arthur would ever admit any of this out loud.

Merlin looked up all of the sudden as if sensing Arthur's thoughts. He gave a weak smile which was returned.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, both not sure what to do. Merlin eventually got up and cleaned the drink Gwen had spilled with a dirty rag he always kept in bed chambers.

"Well, at least we know that I'm going to age better than you are," Arthur said, shifting in his seat to get into a more comfortable position. Merlin chuckled at that.

"I don't think you got a good enough look in the mirror, sire." Arthur chucked a small grape at Merlin. True to his aim, it hit him in the forehead.

"Your reflexes have become slow too." He said smiling at the indignant look on his manservants face. A knock on the door sent both men into a state of alertness as they jumped onto their feet.

"It's Gwen." She called, a little out of breath.

"Come in," Arthur said quickly. Gwen slipped into the room. Her face was red from running to find the court physician.

"Gaius is coming. I explained the situation and he said he needed to grab something from his room before he came up here."

"Great," Merlin smiled weakly. "How were the lower towns?"

"Chaotic," Gwen said, returning the small smile. "The illness is starting to fade. Very few new cases are being diagnosed. Although, Karien was feeling ill this morning. Her husband works in the kitchen. You know Markus. I feel terrible for him. Their hunting dog died yesterday. They were very attached to it. "

"How did the dog die?" Arthur asked, feeling left out of the conversation, not used to touchy-feely stuff.

"I'm not sure, from what I heard, it showed no signs of any illness. He just passed away quietly. Only three years old too."

Merlin's brow furrowed. It reminded him of something.

"Did the dog have short brown matted hair with no tail?" He inquired.

"Yes, poor thing had it bitten off by another dog." Gwen frowned at this. "Did you know it?"

"No, it's just, two nights ago I think I saw it out in the courtyard." Merlin's mind was working fast. The dog had drunk the water he had poured out the window. It had died later on with no visible illness. The effects of whatever aging serum that had been used must have aged the dog to the point of death. Merlin realized, with a start, that the same thing would eventually happen to Arthur and himself. If this aging continued, they were as good as dead.

A knock broke into his thoughts as Gwen opened the door a crack and peeked out. She then opened the door more fully to let someone else into the royal chambers.

This was one of the many moments that Merlin was ever so grateful to have Gaius in his life. If there was someone that could help him, Guias could. The only disconcerting feeling Merlin felt upon seeing his mentor, was when the eyebrow arched up to its place of disapproval where it often rested.

"What did you two do?" Gaius began, looking the prince and servant up and down. It was a little easier for the seasoned physician to accept the aged appearances of the young men. After all, he had already seen his ward with a flowing white beard under the disguise of Dragoon.

"It wasn't us." Merlin began offended, "We both woke up this way."

Arthur cut him off, "Do you know what could cause such changes?"

"Sire, it appears as if you and Merlin have both undergone some sort of rapid aging process. There are many spells and potions like this that can cause similar symptoms. I cannot know the nature of it until I know what spell or potion was used." Gaius said as he set down his medicine bag on the table. "Tell me, do you remember anything strange that happened recently. Events, feelings, thoughts, emotions?"

"The water pitcher from two days ago," Merlin spoke up. At least just placing the idea in Arthur's head without involving an assassin might help in speeding up the reversal process. "There was a pitcher full of water, straight from the well, that tasted like spoiled venison."

"And you both drank out of this pitcher?" Gaius confirmed. Arthur and Merlin both nodded their heads remembering the foul taste. "Hmm. I believe this to be the work of an aging potion called Tactu annorum. It is known for its rapid aging effects within the span of a few days. This would also explain both of your injuries lately. As your bodies gets older, the muscles don't have enough energy to heal injuries that they receive. Merlin's bruise and Arthur's shoulder were both far more painful than their reactions should have been. The tax on your bodies will leave you tired, so it would be no surprise if your injuries progress and worsen with the all the energy going into completing the process."

"What do you mean completing. What's going to happen to us?" Arthur asked.

"If the potion is not reversed, the aging will continue until the person's lifespan is over." At this, Gwen looked fearfully at Arthur as he paled slightly, his face stoic. Guias continued. "I will assume your bodies were aging yesterday as well. Therefore, each day, you become at least a decade older, meaning right now, you must be about forty years old in appearance."

"Do you know an antidote?" Merlin questioned, panic lacing his voice.

"Yes, it comes from a fungus grown deep in the darkling forest, a day and a half's ride away from Camelot,"

"We will have to retrieve it immediately," Arthur said, happy to finally have a plan.

"Sire, I wouldn't propose you or Merlin leave the castle. If either of you were to go on this quest, you'll have aged thirty years by the time your return home. Send a trusted knight on this quest. The risk of losing you on the journey is too great." Arthur scowled at the advise, but conceded to Gaius's point.

"Gaius, will you inform Sirs Leon and Kay of the situation and send them off as soon as possible. Gwen, you should go and attend to Morgana. You've helped out more than enough."

"Arthur, I'd like to stay." Gwen started.

"No, we need to keep this secret. I can not have worry spread throughout the castle. I trust Morgana, but it would seem strange for her to be spending lots of time in the prince's room with her maidservant. I need you to go about your normal daily routine." Arthur rubbed her shoulders affectionately as she reluctantly nodded.

"I understand. I'll visit later on in the evening." Gwen left the room with Gaius closely following her, off to find the designated knights.

"Well," Merlin said, "this was not how I pictured my day going."

"Merlin, do shut up."

"You're right. This is no time to joke." Merlin hurriedly put in, " I must respect my elders." Arthur turned around furiously as Merlin quickly placed the table in between them.

"What did you just…" Arthur was interrupted by a loud pounding on the bedroom doors.

"Arthur," King Uther called from behind the door, "Are you in there?" Both men looked at each other with wide eyes. Arthur put a finger up to his lips and Merlin nodded taking his hands off of the table.

Ching

The goblet echoed as it hit the ground. Merlin froze as he realized that he had just backhanded it off the table.

"Arthur?" Uther asked again. The look Arthur gave to Merlin was one that seemed to ask, "Now what you idiot?" Good question thought Merlin. Now what?

 **Okay, so, as my excuse for being late, last month I was in the hospital for a while. I had a Picc line put in and went home for two weeks of tiredness. All is fine now, and I am feeling much better. However, when I went back to school, SO MUCH MAKEUP WORK! I have been doing so much work and quarter ends soon with mid-terms to follow. I apologise for the wait and thank everyone who has followed/favorited/ and reviewed this story. I promise, sooner or later I will update again and edit the earlier chapters because they are not spectacular. I'm proud of this one (mostly) and hope you enjoyed it. PS: LAST JEDI ON THE 15th :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry I took so long to update! (It's been like a year) I edited the earlier chapters so if they sound different than they used to (for anyone who actually remembers this story), that would be why. I hope to have the next chapter out before summer ends, which gives me a big head start. Enjoy :)**

 **Thank you to Hawki for you're super helpful reviews!**

 _Chapter 4_

"Arthur?" King Uther asked again. "I must speak to you."

The prince froze in fear, staring at his manservant. Merlin himself still had a horrified look plastered on his face from what he just did. The cup in the offense was still rolling around on the stone ground, as if mocking the two occupants of the room. Neither made any move to stop it.

Arthur knew, from prior experience, that if his father were to find his son with such an obvious enchantment placed upon him and without prior knowledge of the situation, the king would act out rashly. Uther would most likely blame the first person he saw. At the moment, that person just so happened to be Arthur's idiotic manservant and the prime target for Uthur's magic-hating anger. Even though, Arthur knew, there was no way that Merlin could perform magic (never mind the powerful magic it would take to pull something like this off), his father would not share the same views. In his eyes, you were guilty of magic until proven innocent.

"Quick Merlin, pull the shades and get under the bed," Arthur whispered. His friend pulled a face at that idea.

"What about you?"

"Just do it." Arthur watched as his Merlin quickly did as he was told, still with open disapproval at the idea.

"Arthur, I'm coming in," Uther said from behind the doors. Arthur practically dove behind his dressing screen as the door opened. "Arthur?"

"Yes, father?" Arthur said from behind the changing station.

"Ah," the king said, realizing the reason his son did not come to the door. "I did not know you were still undressed."

"Sorry father, late start to the day this morning."

"Is that why you missed training with the knights? I had been hoping for a progress report on the recruits today. Was it your manservant again? That boy should be thrown into the stalks for such insolence."

"I am actually feeling under the weather this morning. Merlin has gone out to draw a bath for me. Gaius has insisted that I stay in my room to recover for the rest of the day." Arthur shuffled around behind the curtains so as to appear to be doing something. Uther moved further inside the room and leaned against the baseboard of the prince's bed.

"Did he? Guias never said anything to me." Uther asked confused.

"I'm sure it was an oversight." Arthur hoped his flimsy excuse was enough for the king.

"Of course. I'm sure you are right. Arthur, I have also been meaning to ask you-" Whatever Uther was thinking, it must have too important to wait. Arthur gave the part of the wall where his father's voice was coming from a look of complete exasperation before promptly banged his head in frustration. Uther, of course, was startled by the sudden sound. "Are you alright?"

"Fine, it's just- I am looking for woodworms. They may have infested my dresser."

"I have never heard of such creature," Uther said cautiously, worried that his son might have a fever of sorts. "I will send someone to look into it for you Arthur. Perhaps we should have the discussion over dinner then." Uther shifted his foot slightly so his toes disappeared under the bed as he leaned away from the baseboard he was sitting on.

Merlin pulled his face back slightly, surprised to find the Kings boots a hair's breadth away from his nose. Some of the dirt flew off the boot in a small plum of dust and directly onto his face. A tickling sensation began as the dirt entered his nose.

"I think that would be wise," Arthur called over to his father. Uther nodded to himself and retreated back out into the hallway. Merlin was now, at this point, desperately holding his breath. The door shut behind the King's billowing robe. Arthur peaked out from his hiding space and rushed to the door, shutting it fully.

"Mer-"

"Aaaccchhhoooo," A small puff of dust plumbed out from under the bed. A dusty manservant followed as he rolled out from his hiding place.

"Merlin, why is your face all red?" Arthur asked as he also exited his hiding spot.

"I think you should know, you are never allowed to complain about your boots being dirty again. Your father's servant obviously has no regard for boot polishing." Merlin tried brushing out a few specks of dirt that had gotten tangled in his beard. The prince shook his head and walked to his closet and started digging around at the bottom of it. He pulled out a folded blue cloak that had obviously seen it's better days.

"We can't stay here in case another incident like that happens." He began, swinging the cloak around his shoulders.

"Don't you think it's safer to stay here? Your father knows to stay away from your room seeing as your sick." Merlin said as he pulled the curtains back so the sunlight could once more illuminate the poorly lit room.

"Yes, but there is a high probability that he will send servants and court representatives to fill me in on the days events."

"So where will we go?"

"We're going to Gaius'."

"Believe it or not, people actually come and go frequently through the _court_ physicians." Merlin accented the court part of the title in hopes that Arthur would catch his drift.

"Yes Merlin, but no one goes into your room, do they." Merlin's heart seemed to be caught in his throat a little. Arthur, the least patient man in Camelot, was going to be spending excessive amounts of time in his small quarters where he would get bored and start exploring the room. The very room where a magic book, shie staff, and a small collection of magical trinkets were stored underneath a loose floorboard.

"I don't think that's a good idea Arthur," He tried.

"Come on, you never get any visitors,"

"I do too,"  
"Who?"

"You, Gwen, ... Gaius," Merlin tried racking his brain for some more people but came up empty-handed.

"Your room it is," Arthur pulled his hood up over his face. "We will travel through the servant's passages." He motioned Merlin first since the prince rarely traveled the servant's corridors.

"What about me," Merlin crossed his arms. "I don't have a disguise!"

"Here," Arthur grabbed a stack of his clothes and held them up to Merlin. "Hold them up high enough to cover the beard. Say you're washing them. Nobody will know anything different."

"I have grey hair."

"Well I can't give you a royal cloak to wear and it's the best idea we have."  
"Why can we not stay here? Won't people begin to wonder where you are if they can't find you here?"

"If anybody asks, we will have gone to Gaius for medicine." Arthur impatiently explained.

"But isn't that where we are actually going!"

"Merlin, do you have a door to your room?"

"... yes."

"And I'm sure that it's as thick as you are, so we'll shut it and that will be that."

"Arthur you're being a complete clotpole."  
"Idiot." Arthur ended their banter by starting off to the physicians, knowing his manservant would have to follow. Merlin took the lead, taking the most obscure passageways he knew of. It seemed luck was on their side as only three people total passed them on their journey. Two of them threw the pair odd looks but did not question them. Merlin kept the clothes close to his face, thinking of all the grief Arthur was going to give him later that this was working.

About two thirds the way to their safety zone, they came to a flight of stairs. Two steps down the incline and a sudden pain flared in Merlin's shin. Almost dropping his stack of clothes, he leaned against the wall to take the weight off of it. Arthur almost walked right into his manservant as he stopped suddenly. He opened his mouth to start an insult but stopped short.

"You alright?" Arthur asked seeing Merlin's face scrunched up.

"Yes. It's just when Gaius said the bruising would get worse, I didn't think it would happen so rapidly." He replied stiffly, waiting for whatever pain to go away. It seemed the stairs had aggravated his injury to some extent.

"We are almost there," Arthur said concerned for his friend. The age lines seemed to become pronounced by the serious expression Merlin was wearing, making him look much too old. Arthur's stomach clenched at the thought of having to lose his young and carefree friend to age. It did not seem possible for Merlin to be anything but the idiot he was.

"Alright," Merlin said as he started to slightly limp down the stairs.

"You sure you're alright?" Arthur's worry got the best of him as he asked the question.

"Yes." Merlin said with his cheeky smile, " We can see if Gaius has something to help with it." A door echoed as it banged shut somewhere down the corridor behind them. "We have to get out of the hallways."

Merlin silently cursed the assassin with each step he took. The pain decreased as he went, but the sore discomfort of it still forced him to keep as much weight off of it as possible as he continued walking. Arthur stayed close behind, wanting to offer help, but unsure how. Instead, he took the laundry out of Merlin's hands so the man could use the wall to help himself. It took them a few more turns and another flight of stairs to reach the physician's chambers.

"Gaius?" Merlin called in as he entered the room. No reply came. "He must still be out," Merlin relayed back to Arthur as they both entered the room. Neither waisted time as they made their way into Merlin's room. Merlin situated himself on his bed, rubbing around the bruise that had been irritating him. Arthur threw his clothes down on the bottom of his bed, not caring for the annoyed expression Merlin gave him. They rested in comfortable silence, neither willing to voice the concern they had for the situation. The door to the physician's entrance groaned as someone entered. Arthur cautiously made his way to Merlin's door and peeked out into the larger chambers.

"Gaius," he called out. The old man jumped slightly at the disembodied voice. Arthur opened the door revealing himself.

"Sire? What are you doing in Merlin's room?"

"We decided it would be safer with fewer visitors here." He explained.

"I see." Gaius swiftly walked into the adjoining room. "You will have to stay quiet in here for the rest of the day. We may be able to sneak you back up to your room under the guise of night."

"Of course," Arthur said. "Not Merlin though, I don't think he should be walking."

"Why is that?" Gaius turned automatically into his physician mode.

"The process seems to be taking a toll on my body as you said." Merlin scowled at that. "The bruising feels as if it has somehow affected the muscles."

"The swelling of the leg must be pushing on them, causing discomfort." Gaius stood up and returned back to the main chambers. He grabbed some of his concoctions from the cabinet in one hand. He then went by the main door and grabbed his old walking stick. With both objects, he returned to his ward's room and sat down on the bed.

"Here my boy," Gaius handed him both potion vials which Merlin gulped down gratefully. He then handed his staff over."Use this to walk for now. It will take the strain off your leg. I don't want you going anywhere without it."

"Thank you, Gaius." Merlin tried out his new walking tool, heavily leaning on it.

"Now you really seem old," Arthur teased trying to lighten the mood. Yet again though, the unbidden thought of Merlin as an old man. This time, he was crippled and weak, no longer the optimistic youthful person he was so used to. His joke fell a little flat. Merlin just chuckled weakly.

"I feel it."

"Ah, I would hate to know what you consider me if you think you're old," Gaius said, standing up.

"Sorry, Gaius," Merlin smiled with his usual cheek. His mentor just shook his head and excused himself from the room.

As Merlin predicted, Arthur started walking around looking at all the little objects scattered across the room. He toed several dirty shirts that were haphazardly thrown across the room. Arthur pretended to sigh in exasperation before telling of his manservant.  
"You do know that my room isn't the only one with a cabinet. That's where these clothes are supposed to go. We've been over this,"  
"I'm sorry I didn't tidy up before you came in, Sire," Merlin laid the sarcasm on thick. Arthur just didn't respond to his manservant's obvious disrespect. Instead, he raised his hand up to Merlin, signaling for silence, listening intently for a noise he thought he heard. A few seconds later they heard the door to the main chamber open.

"Gaius," The familiar female voice carried to the back room. Merlins back stiffened at the sound.

"Morgana, what a surprise," Gaius said.  
"I'm sorry to disturb you, but I can't seem to find Arthur anywhere. Do you know where he is?" She smiled sweetly.

"I am afraid I don't know the whereabouts of Arthur," Gaius said, obviously not falling for her innocent act.

"It's just, the king is looking for him and Gwen said that he was not feeling so well. I thought he may have come down here to you for medicine." To Arthur, Morgana's worried voice seemed on the verge of a full-blown panic. This set Arthur on edge. He hates upsetting her, even if it was for a reason.

"My lady, I'm sure he is fine." Gaius tried to dissuade her.  
"Perhaps I should alert Uther to his disappearance."

"I'm sure there is no reason that the king has to worry yet-"  
"There is no need Morgana." Arthur spoke up from in the bedroom. He stood up from his place on the bed and grinned at Merlin as his manservants face fell. Arthur knew there was no way he could keep this big of a secret from the King's ward and it was much better if she found out on his terms. Arthur reasoned in his head that Merlin would just have suck up his pride and show himself to Morgana.

Merlin, however, was not thinking about his pride. Instead, he was directing his focus on not strangling Arthur. This was exactly what Morgana wanted. For Arthur to trust her and show her his weakness, giving her an opportune time to strike.

"Arthur?" Morgana said in her innocent voice.

"Arthur, what are you doing?" Merlin urgently whispered.

"I'm going to need someone to cover for me at council meetings and in other duties. Morgana will be perfect for that." Arthur said.

"No, Arthur-" But it was too late. The prince had already opened the door.

Although he was sure that this was the right decision, Arthur still felt embarrassed when Morgana saw him. He watched as her eyes got huge and her hand flew up to her mouth, as a classic sign of shock.

"Arthur, what happened?" Morgana said."

* * *

Ten minutes later, Morgana was caught up to speed. Merlin did not like where this was going. Morgana had offered her help in any way possible and Arthur had given their plan away. Gaius had already sent Leon and Kay away, on the pretense of gathering rare ingredients for Gaius (which wasn't exactly a lie). Both knights knew what was really at stake, and had promised to ride as fast as they could. Morgana had promised to cover for Arthur for the next few days and Gaius had agreed to talk to the King about Arthur being too sick to do any of his princely duties.

"Gwen knows as well." Arthur finished explaining to Morgana. Merlin watched the micro expression of Morgana's rage at her maidservant's name, but she covered it up well.

"Good," Morgana said. "I will leave you both alone to save what strength you can."

"Thank you, Morgana." Arthur smiled at his sister before retreating back into Merlin's room. Gaius simply bowed his head toward her before Morgana also left the room. Merlin made a quick decision and grabbed his walking stick, following her out.  
"Morgana!" He called out after her. The witch stopped and turned back around, giving Merlin her best sneer. "What did you do to us."

"Why do you think I had anything to do with it?" She asked feigning innocence.

Merlin pulled out the piece of the assassin's cloak fabric he had found and stashed in his pocket. He held it out for her to see. "I know you hired an assassin to do this." He told her.

Morgana simply stared at him. "And if I did? What are you going to do about it?"

Merlin hesitated before plowing on. "I swear Morgana, I will reverse this and make sure to find a way to prevent this from ever happening again."  
"Oh Merlin," Morgana said sweetly before turning around and walking away from him. She called back over her shoulder, "Whatever gave you the impression that you could possibly stop this?"

With that, Morgana turned the corner and was gone. Merlin shook his head and returned to his room.

* * *

As soon as Morgana returned to her room, she sent Gwen on an errand to fetch he laundry. From the depths of her beauty table, she pulled forth her magical mirror. She blew onto the glass, fogging it up before writing the following message;

Sister,

It worked.

Two knights looking for an antidote.

Please intercept in the darkling forest.

-Morgana-

She smiled before setting the mirror gently back into it's hiding hole. No two lone knights were going to stop her plan. She would succeed.


End file.
